Campus Community

IRVINE, Calif. – Senior point guard Robbie Mitchell put together one of his best overall games to lead No. 23 BYU–Hawaii men's basketball to an 84-79 victory over No. 19 Cal Baptist for the PacWest Championship title last week at Concordia University Arena.

BYU–Hawaii’s Center for Learning and Teaching (clt.byuh.edu) will have its second annual learning and teaching symposium, held Thursday-Saturday, February 19-21, on the BYU–Hawaii campus. The event is free and open to the public.

This year, 2015, marks 60 years since David O. McKay's historic groundbreaking for the permanent campus on February 12, 1955, and the first class of Church College of Hawaii in the Fall of 1955. Spirit Week 2015 commemorates this 60-year history with activities that reflect on the foundational history of the university and focus our gaze and vision toward the future and potential of the students, the Genuine Gold, who come from this special school.

BYU–Hawaii graphic design professor Brandon Truscott's poster for his class's ART 333 Type Face Cards exhibit was one of 25 winners of Print Celebrates Design, a national design competition hosted by PRINT magazine. Truscott, chair of the Visual Arts department at BYU–Hawaii, said he hopes beginners in the graphic design field will see his win as an example of opportunities available in the graphic design community.

On Tuesday, January 20, Kevin J Worthen, president of Brigham Young University, addressed the students, faculty, and staff of Brigham Young University–Hawaii at the weekly Devotional held in the Cannon Activities Center. President Worthen’s address, entitled “Holy Places,” detailed ways in which we can turn everyday places, even haunted places, into holy places.

President Steven C. Wheelwright welcomed students to campus on Tuesday, January 13, at the weekly Devotional. In his talk, entitled, “An Education of the Heart,” he counseled students to find ways in which they could grow spiritually during this upcoming semester. “That ‘education of the heart’ shapes our character, our conscience, and our spirit and thus determines our eternal destiny,” said President Wheelwright. “In other words, that ‘education of the heart’ determines who we really are.”

Two BYU–Hawaii students recently returned from Xi’an, China, studying Mandarin and Chinese culture after receiving help from the Asian Executive Management program. One of them earned a prestigious designation as a Boren Scholar. Jarek and Kaylee Buss spent a year in China and are now back at BYU–Hawaii to finish their degrees. That experience was made possible because Jarek received a Boren Scholarship and both of them were enrolled in the Asian Executive Management program.

The Willes Center for Entrepreneurship at BYU–Hawaii is well known for hosting its annual Great Ideas competition in the Fall and a companion event in the Winter semester called Empower Your Dreams. While the Great Ideas competition is typically comprised of students presenting business ideas and plans, this year included a new twist, matching the rapid evolving pace of the millennial generation. With YouTube being the world’s second largest search engine, the Fall 2014 business competition focused on video. The official title of this year’s competition was the “Great Ideas Video Competition: Tell Your Business Story.”

It’s common knowledge that attendance matters at any level of educational setting. Unexcused absence from school, or truancy, has been a significant issue in the United States for many decades. Now, thanks to a new wide-ranging study, educators can have better tools to help students want to be in class and even be better prepared for their time there.

BYU–Hawaii has many resources for providing students the support they need to successfully pursue their education, including various labs and centers for tutoring, counseling, and advice. The newly renamed Center for Academic Success (previously called the Center for Academic Support) is one of these.

BYU–Hawaii welcomes a new director of enterprise information systems: Jeff Strain. Strain comes from the LDS Church Educational System, working there since February 2001. He started at LDS Business College where he worked with Oracle and PeopleSoft and helped organize and jump start a helpdesk. While at LDSBC, Strain served on several technical CES-wide committees. He continued his involvement on the committees but made the switch to BYU (Provo) in April 2005. There, Jeff helped in maturing their ERP system as well as their Linux environments.

In October 2014, Dr. Helena M. A. Hannonen, a BYU–Hawaii faculty member, received the Lowell Benson Lifetime Service Award from the BYU Marriott School of Management. Dr. Hannonen received the prestigious award for her many years of involvement in BYU’s Management Society, particularly for all her work as the president of Silicon Valley chapter and starting Silicon Valley WOMEN, as well as being the regional director for Northern California and later Asia-Pacific regions.

This week, the Music and Theatre department presents the world premiere of the play One Tattered Angel, written by Craig Ferre and adapted from the book by Blaine Yorgason.

The BYU–Hawaii Ohana has recently announced changes in the university’s academic leadership. Some of these appointments and changes have previously been announced and took affect as of the beginning of the new academic year. With these changes, an extension of gratitude is expressed to those who have served in the various academic assignments for all the time, energy and dedication they put forth.

Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are easily identified by their black nametags. These “Elders” and “Sisters” between the ages of 18-26 serve for 18 or 24 months, away from their families and often in foreign places. To qualify as a missionary, each person must live a standard of worthiness and must meet certain health qualifications.

Tahiti in the summertime means time for hanging out on the beach and surfing at Teahupoo, but for one group of students hoping to attend BYU–Hawaii, this summer meant English class, five hours a day, five days a week for eight weeks.

Starting in 2015, BYU–Hawaii will be implementing a new academic calendar. In an academic year, there will now be three equal 14-week semesters: Fall, Winter, and Spring. Fall semester will begin in August and go through October. Winter will start in November and finish in February with a two-week break for Christmas. Spring semester will begin in March and continue through the first week of June. There will then be a seven-week summer break between Spring and Fall semesters. Each semester will be formatted the same, having the same number of weeks and more consistent course offerings as well as a graduation ceremony following each semester. This means that graduates will be able to walk once they complete their coursework instead of walking first and then attending another session or semester.

The students at BYU–Hawaii come from 70 countries, giving the campus a unique fusion of culture and language. The English language proves to be a crucial tool as the students communicate with their international classmates, and many international students hone their English skills through immersion and practice. This also means that the children of married international students are growing up in multilingual families. A new program, staffed by current students, is now giving these children enhanced opportunities to learn English while their parents attend the university.